Chapter 133

After making sure that she was cleaned up and dried herself, Ava was putting on the thin muslin chemise that her mother gave to her. Lady Randolph has whispered to her to entice her husband on their wedding night, so that’s what she was doing right now.
Even Ava did not want to admit it, she did want to entice her husband to his knees.
She shook her head after that thought before she was making sure that her hair was in place. Then, she moved to the bedchamber as she was opening the door of the chamber. The warmth was filling the air as the fire crackled in the fireplace before she saw that Marsh was standing in front of it, holding two glasses of brandy.
Her heart soared when he turned to look at her and he sucked on a breath. Apparently, her mother’s strategy worked as Ava was approaching him.
“For me?” Ava asked about the brandy before Marsh was blinking his eyes, trying not to stare at her undressing state. Ava loved it when her husband was speechless right now.
“Huh? Oh yes, this is for you,” he said before Ava thanked him and sipped on it. The warm liquor helped her to calm her nerves before Marsh was looking at the fire again as they stood there awkwardly.
“Do you wish to speak with me?” Ava asked after a moment of silence before Marsh was sipping on his brandy. He sighed before he was leaning against the mantelpiece of the fireplace. Ava took a seat and waited for her husband to speak.
“I don’t know how to tell you this but I know that I wanted to tell you the truth,” Marsh started before he turned to look at her. His eyes were glistening in the dim light that was coming from the fireplace before she was twirling the brandy in her glass.
“About what?” she asked quietly before Marsh was clearing his throat.
“About who I really was and what you will be expecting from this marriage,” he replied that Ava has to turn to look at his face but Marsh was so focused on the fire as he was saying that.
“I know that you might be thinking that I am taking advantage of your parents’ connections to the queen and you might be feeling as if I was using you for personal gain,” he said before he smiled weakly.
“Me, a baron who married the seneschal’s daughter? Who would have thought,” he said huskily before Marsh was shaking his head. He took a sip again before he was turning to look at her. Ava tensed up as Marsh was walking toward her but he made a turn to pick up a decanter before pouring himself more of the brandy.
“You hate me for betraying you of my true identity and I want to say that,” Marsh turned to look at her as Ava was holding her breath, “I understand that you don’t want to consummate the marriage then,” her husband said as she was blinking her eyes.
Was he fucking serious?
Ava was staring at Marsh as she was sipping on the brandy in one go. She cannot handle it now as she was expecting that Marsh would ask her to strip for her and maybe has his wicked way with her body.
Not that her build was not that great but she can pass as an attractive woman and right now, hearing that her husband doesn’t want to consummate their marriage…
It hurt. Real bad.
There was a moment of silence passed between them as their breaths were mingling in the air. The fire crackled before Ava was sighing.
“So, you just married me because?” Ava asked her husband as she saw that Marsh was gulping down before he was sipping on the brandy again.
“Because the queen asked me to get married. And you’re there, ripe for me to get you to the altar and she would stop pestering me for once in my life after I left the field,” Marsh said as Ava was returning her gaze to him.
He looked so distant now, in a memory where she might not know where it led him. But she wanted to be a part of him, no matter what she should do. The glass clinked on the table before Marsh was straightening up as he was raking his fingers through his hair.
“Well, I will be leaving you to your routine then. Perhaps get some sleep and don’t wait up. I have some issues to look at,” Marsh said as he was making his way to the door. Ava has to think fast. She did not care why he lied when they first met. She did not want to be alone tonight where she might be sleeping in a cold bed.
She felt that for over 23 years of her existence. She will not be doing it now.
It took only a second for her to dump the glass on the table and went to her husband. He was about to turn the doorknob before Ava was slamming him onto the door as she was breathing hard. Marsh was surprised to see her stopping him from leaving.
“Ava, what are—“
“You know what I think? I think you’re afraid that I will be rejecting you after we learned about each other’s identities. I think you don’t want to let me in because you have been so lonely for the longest time ever. You have been an orphan when you’re 15 years old and I don’t think you ever wanted anyone as much as you wanted me,” Ava said before she was looking at Marsh. Then, she realized that his orbs were not grey anymore.
They were pitch black.
“What in the world?” she asked when Marsh instantly closing his eyes from her view. She never sees that color on his eyes before, even in the darkest, dim light that his eyes would never be that black.
“I think it is time for us to get some sleep,” he said quietly before Ava snorted. Not a good etiquette for a Lady in the presence of polite company. But this was her husband, they have been married for less than 24 hours. She thought that Marsh could handle it.
“No, you mean, I will be getting sleep while you work on those stupid ledgers that you have to balance and done everything in your power to make sure that everyone will be paid for the month,” Ava said as Marsh turned his head to the side, knowing that she was right about it.
“Ava, I am trying to protect you,” he said huskily as Ava was looking at the tension in his jaws and his eyes shut. She blinked before she was touching the jaws that she wanted to bite so badly.
But of course, that would require her husband to be with her in the bed, naked and consummating their wedding night.
“Look at me,” Ava whispered before she was playing with his chin. Marsh shook his head before Ava was kissing his throat.
“Please,” she begged and Ava Randolph never begged in her life.
Being a daughter to the queen’s seneschal has its perks but all Ava wanted was for her husband to look at her right in the eyes with his gorgeous mercury orbs.
“Ava, please, I don’t want to hurt you,” Marsh said but being the stubborn child that she was, Ava gripped his chin and pulled his face to look at her. Marsh opened his eyes and it was pitch black orbs that were staring at her. Then, her learning kicked in.
It was rumored that the gentry was ruled by Vampyre, a supernatural creature that lived longer than a human and they have this insane thirst for blood. They were affected by the disease Porphyria and they were being struck by it when they were in their adolescence. When they survived the high fever and vomit, they were never truly the same person again.
It’s like they have changed their skins and become a new person. They do not go, wandering around in sunlight, and most of them have a pale complexion and beautiful faces that would make faeries ran from them in fear for they were beautifully and handsomely crafted like Greek/Goddess gods.
Then, Ava noticed all the other gentry that were coming into their wedding reception, especially the friends of her husband.
The Duke of Belikov.
The Marquis of Kain.
The Earl of Raine.
The Count of Stonelockteco.
And of course, The Baron of Fell.
Ava gasped before she released her husband’s face as if she was setting herself in a trap that she knew she would not win. She was forced to be marrying a Vampyre that will live longer than her and her husband will be finding someone else other than her.
That angered her even more than the fact that Marsh was a Vampyre.
“Now you see why I don’t want to consummate this marriage. You deserved someone that will care for you, Ava and I know that I am not that person, I will never be,” Marsh said quietly before he sighed as he was turning the doorknob and get out of their chamber.
“And I will make sure that you will find that someone, even if it was not me in the first place,” he said before Marsh was closing the door with a click. Ava was staring at the door that was hanging between her and her husband.
“Finding someone that will be a better fit for me?” Ava mumbled before she was remembering all their sweet moments together.
Walking down the beach.
Staring at each other when they were eating lunch.
Kissing in the carriage ride.
Holding their hands together as if they belonged.
Ava scoffed before she was determined to make sure that her husband saw what she saw in him. Marsh might think that he was a monster but Ava knew him better.
And this was the time to remind him who he really was and the Lady that he married. Ava went to open the door before she went to find her husband.
This night was not over yet, not when Ava has a say in it.